Illustrator Spotlight: Musubu Hagi — from booooooom.com
On 08/19/2026,
in adjunct faculty, Africa, colleges, community colleges, creativity, education, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, faculty/staff, hearts -- matters of the heart, higher education, ideas, instructional design, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, liberal arts, love of learning, participation, play, UK, universities,
by Daniel Christian
Bring playfulness into teaching for collaboration and creativity — from timeshighereducation.com by Isabel Taurel
In learning, playfulness is often overlooked. Yet it could be key to embedding the soft, ‘human’ skills students will need for the future. Isabel Taurel shows how
The same is true in higher education. Students who are able to rediscover a playful mindset leave the classroom with something far more valuable than a good grade. They develop confidence, are more willing to contribute unusual ideas and learn how to adapt when the unexpected happens. These are precisely the qualities employers increasingly tell us they need.
Yet the creative and cultural industries demonstrate their growing value. Success increasingly depends on collaboration, adaptability and creative confidence, all qualities that are fostered through arts-based learning and increasingly sought in every kind of workplace.
Playfulness isn’t a distraction from serious learning. It’s one of the most powerful ways we have of preparing students for a future in which the most valuable skills may be the most deeply human ones: listening, presence, responsiveness, imagination and a capacity to create meaning together.
On 07/31/2026,
in art, creativity,
by Daniel Christian
Lifelike Birds Emerge from Foliage in Painted Paper Reliefs by The Paper Ark — from thisiscolossal.com by Nayan Shrimali and Venus Bird and Kate Mothes
On 07/22/2026,
in art, creativity, design, ideas, innovation, library / librarians, reading,
by Daniel Christian
Los Angeles Public Library Unveils the World’s Largest Pop-Up Book — from thisiscolossal.com by Kate Mothes and Daniel González
On 07/22/2026,
in art, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, creativity, design, digital video, emerging technologies, experimentation, Google, graphics, platforms, tools, United States, vendors,
by Daniel Christian
The image model race just split into four lanes –> find which model fits your work — from heatherbcooper.substack.com by Heather B. Cooper
In today’s edition:
- Stop asking which image model is “best” – the top 4
- Seedream 5.0 Pro’s layer trick
- Image & Video Prompts
On 07/15/2026,
in art, creativity,
by Daniel Christian
Artist Spotlight: Sara Suppan — from booooooom.com
On 07/14/2026,
in art, creativity,
by Daniel Christian
Veks Van Hillik Suspends Fish, Insects, and Other Objects in Surreal Murals — from thisiscolossal.com by Veks Van Hillik and Kate Mothes
On 06/29/2026,
in art, communications, creativity, society, United States, youth,
by Daniel Christian
23,000-Square-Foot Clasping Arms Celebrate Community Resilience in Minneapolis — from thisiscolossal.com by Saype and Kate Mothes
“The Shape of Memories” by Photographer Riccardo Magherini — from booooooom.com
On 06/04/2026,
in 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, animation, art, Augmented Reality (AR), collaboration, communities of practice, creativity, design, digital learning, digital storytelling, entrepreneurship, experimentation, ideas, innovation, interaction design, interactivity, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, media/film, multimedia, music, United States, universities, vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, XR - extended reality,
by Daniel Christian
Cleveland Institute of Art’s Interactive Media Lab Redefines What an Art School Can Be — from edtechmagazine.com
The landscape for specialized colleges and universities such as art schools is shifting as higher education continues to evolve to fit emerging job markets and student interest.
Founded in 1882, Cleveland Institute of Art continuously challenges itself to stay modern and relevant. Years ago, the school’s leadership had the vision to partner with the city to revitalize an area due for reinvigoration.
The result was the Interactive Media Lab, which brings together the university, the city and private industry into a satellite campus that gives students and the community a space to create media, art and experiences with the most up-to-date tools available.
Also see:
Hilary Pecis Paints Saturated Snapshots of West Coast Life — from thisiscolossal.com by Hilary Pecis and Grace Ebert
.
Ornamental Carpets Release Wild Animals in Debbie Lawson’s Provocative Sculptures — from thisiscolossal.com by Debbie Lawson and Kate Mothes
On 05/16/2026,
in Adobe, Apple, art, communications, communities of practice, content development, aggregation, repositories, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, design, digital audio, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital video, education technology, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, faculty/staff, graphics, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning preferences, liberal arts, library / librarians, media/film, multimedia, music, new media literacies, online media, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, reading, real-world assignments, simulations, skills, STEAM-related, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, technology (general), tools, United States, universities, vendors, vision/possibilities, web design and production,
by Daniel Christian
Want Students to Build a Healthier Relationship With Technology? Start With The Arts — from techlearning.com by Adrianna Marshall
Arts classrooms demonstrate what technology integration at its best can look like
But at a moment defined by rapid AI adoption and ongoing debates about screen time, the argument for protecting and investing in arts education needs to take on a new tone. The arts continue to be one of the most effective places in school for students to build healthier, more intentional relationships with technology.
In short, in the age of AI, we need the arts more than ever.
…
Digital composition software, notation tools, and recording platforms allow students to experiment, revise, and refine their ideas in ways that would have been far more time-consuming a decade ago. Students can layer tracks, hear immediate playback, annotate their own scores, and collaborate across devices. The same is true in other contexts besides music; in visual arts, for instance, a variety of digital drawing and painting platforms enable students to practice with new mediums, styles, and techniques without having to worry about supplies or messes. But in either case, the core intellectual work of looking and listening critically, understanding structure, and making aesthetic choices remains entirely human and part of the learning.
From DSC:
I agree. At one of my previous positions, I spent 10 years supervising a digital studio — helping professors and students use a variety of applications to create things. The applications were from Adobe, Apple, and a variety of smaller vendors. The deliverables could be graphics, edited soundtracks, music, videos, flyers, posters, collages, edited photographs, presentations, websites, and more. I longed for people to discover the power of multimedia to communicate their messages, tell stories, stir emotion, powerfully engage themselves (and others), and unleash their creativity.
There were several obstacles to our digital studio being more impactful at that institution. It was under the IT department, not the academic side of the house. It was in the basement of the library, where few students and faculty traveled. During those years, it was highly uncommon for faculty members to require multimedia-based assignments — so many students had to WANT to develop these skills on their own time. The majority of students didn’t see the value in developing the types of digital skills that we were trying to build…or they didn’t have the time.
Also relevant/see:
- Want to boost early literacy skills? Try singing — from hechingerreport.org by Jackie Mader
Experts say music can help prepare children for reading success.
On 05/02/2026,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, career development, collaboration, creativity, digital storytelling, education technology, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, story, storytelling, tools, United States, vendors, writing,
by Daniel Christian
Let AI Interview You — from wondertools.substack.com by Jeremy Caplan & Jay Dixit
A smarter way to get past the blank page
There’s nothing wrong with using AI to get answers to your questions. But there’s another mode of interacting with AI that many people never consider — one I find much more useful for my creative process.
Here’s what I do instead: I flip the script and let the AI ask the questions. Instead of prompting AI, I get the AI to prompt me.
On 05/02/2026,
in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, animation, art, career development, change, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, creativity, digital audio, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital video, graphics, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning spaces, liberal arts, media/film, multimedia, photography, United States, universities, vendors,
by Daniel Christian
6 Reasons Universities Are Building Media Labs Now — from edtechmagazine.com by Brad Grimes
Digital production centers help institutions close the gap between academic training and professional practice.
Higher education is undergoing a significant transformation in how it prepares the next generation of media professionals. Across the country, universities are investing in state-of-the-art media labs — facilities built not around traditional classroom instruction, but around the tools, workflows and collaborative environments that define today’s professional production landscape. These spaces represent a fundamental rethinking of what it means to train students for careers in film, animation, gaming and digital storytelling.
On 04/27/2026,
in art, creativity, digital photography, photography, United States,
by Daniel Christian
Navid Baraty’s Atmospheric Photos Explore Contrasting Scales of Time — from thisiscolossal.com by Navid Baraty and Kate Mothes
When we consider that enormous metropolises like New York City and Chicago have only come into being within the past few hundred years, it’s impossible not to stand in awe of ancient cultural sites that have existed for millennia or geological features that expose millions—even billions—of years of the planet’s natural history. For Navid Baraty, the contrasts and tensions of contemporary urban life and timeless landscapes merge in otherworldly photographs.
Baraty’s series The Time Between juxtaposes cityscapes with dramatic terrain, from desert dunes to snow-capped mountains. The project revolves around images in which two distinct digital photographs converge in a composite, drawing on the film technique of double exposure and exploring ideas of permanence, presence, and the “space between different scales of time,” the artist says.